


Like Phases of the Moon

by MetaphoricalPants



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Jughead, Bi Archie, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cutesy, Ficlet Collection, Flashbacks, Fluff, Homeless Jughead, Jarchie - Freeform, M/M, Moving In Together, One Shot Collection, Short, Sleeping Together, Two A.M. Conversations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-09
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-01 08:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10184984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MetaphoricalPants/pseuds/MetaphoricalPants
Summary: A collection of one shots about long nights spent between Archie and Jug.--The cool night air swirled into the room as Archie sat on the edge of the bed, his best friend's hat in his hands, thumbs rubbing gently at the aging fabric. His friend had had the thing as long as he could remember, and only when he was asleep did he ever see him without it.





	1. New Normal

_The cool night air swirled into the room as Archie sat on the edge of the bed, his best friend's hat in his hands, thumbs rubbing gently at the aging fabric. His friend had had the thing as long as he could remember, and only when he was asleep did he ever see him without it…_

\--

It had been a total of two hours since Archie Andrews had discovered that Jughead was homeless, and a total of thirty minutes since the raven haired boy had finally fallen asleep at roughly 2 a.m. Not that he had been counting. Or maybe he had.

Sleepovers had been the norm for them growing up. Every weekend. Sometimes even during the week. In the tree house. In a tent in the backyard. At Archie's. Even the rare sleepover at Jug's. But they'd grown since then and grown apart during the summer. The very thought of the way he'd flaked out on his best friend made Archie want to cringe. Part of him knew it would be hard to make up to Jughead, but time was what healed the deepest wounds…

He had never seen his friend so peaceful; this was probably the first time in days Jughead had actually gotten a goodnight's rest in a warm bed. A familiar bed. The bags under his eyes and pale look of fatigue had been a dead ringer when Archie had helped him climb through the window, something he usually could do on his own. They had sat and talked for about an hour, the details of his residence having been the Twilight Drive-in before it had been closed down centering most of the conversation. He could tell Jug was starting to get tired with every tug of the comforter tighter around his frame. Every eloquent sentence interrupted by a yawn or a soft sigh. The way he had rubbed his eyes and sighed with such frustration as the ability to hold his head up became harder and harder by the minute. Archie had chuckled and gently touched his shoulder, telling him to lay down. To rest. He'd tucked him in and even pressed a gentle kiss to his temple, causing the other's lips to quirk up into a small smile. "Thanks, Arch.."

In an hour they had gone from nothing to something. Something close to what they had used to be, but more. Close through hushed voices and soft words of reassurance and then soft admissions of long-held affection…

 

_“Jug…”_

_"Yeah?”_

_He bit his lip, chewing it slightly in thought. This was his best friend. Is his best friend. If this goes wrong, the backlash should be tremendous, but... Now might not have been the best time but there was certainly no time like the present right? “Juggie… I really like you..”_

_“I like you too, Arch.”_

_“No, Juggie. I like you.”_

_“Oh…”_

_A moment of silence, a shift closer. A glance. A touch… A soft touch of lips as they melted into one another… Apologizing beyond the use of words as he tried to mend the bond between he and his best friend since childhood._

And now here Archie was, restless. awake, with sleep hanging in his eyes as the cool night air swirled into the room as he sat on the edge of the bed, his best friend's hat in his hands, thumbs rubbing gently at the aging fabric. His friend had had the thing as long as he could remember, and only when he was asleep did he ever see him without it. He looked from the article at Jughead, whose black hair had fallen like a small dark halo around his head. Archie hesitant set the hat on the nightstand and laid down beside his friend, his arms slowly, loosely, carefully encircling his waist as if he would break him if he pulled him too close. He had never seemed so fragile before. Perhaps it was because he hadn't seen him this close up in a long while.

"Turn the light on and take a picture, it'll last longer." Jughead’s voice cut the silence that hung in the night air, groggy and humored. It wasn't witty or eloquent, but it was certainly funny. He could see Jug’s face because of the way the moonlight had shone into the room, and he knew he was smiling slightly. At least he thought so as he squinted to see him in the dim lighting of the bedroom. He hadn’t really noticed how bright the full moon had been until now, completely zoning out as he glanced towards the open window.

“Was I a really staring?” He blinked, looking back at Jug. He hadn’t realized, but he had been. For a while. “Should’ve smothered you with a pillow while I had the chance.” Archie grinned.

Jughead yawned, “Yeah. Should’ve..”

Archie chuckled, “Go back to sleep, Jug. It’s like 3.

Jug sighed and closed his eyes, before opening one and looking at Archie, “Pancakes in the morning?”

“Would I ever let you starve?” Archie grinned, laughing.

“Maybe." Jughead smiled slightly and closed his eyes, snuggling closer.

There were a solid ten minutes of silence before Jughead spoke up again, “And Pop’s for lunch?”

Archie couldn’t help but laugh, even at three in the morning Jughead was thinking about burgers, “Yes, of course, Juggie.” He shook his head as he buried his face in the other’s hair. "Now, goodnight."

"Wait." Jughead sat up, "Is my laptop still plugged in in the corner I need to-.." He was quickly silenced with a peck on the lips.

"Jug, I said goodnight."  
Jughead laid back down and nudged him, "Does someone have a bedtime?" he laughed.

"Yeah, you're up past your's." He shook his head.

 

A solid twenty minutes later the redhead had fallen asleep, snoring softly as he ventured into dreamland. Meanwhile, one Jughead Jones, was in the corner on his laptop adding to the newest chapter of his novel. He glanced at the window to enjoy the view of the full moon for a moment and the glanced at Archie sleeping soundly in the bed. Well, they did say the moon made people do crazy things. Or maybe it was fall in love. Maybe the crazy thing was to fall in love (with your best friend of course). 


	2. And with Rise Comes Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archie has night terrors and Jughead consoles him.

Some nights he's still, peaceful. He smiles and mutters sweet, sometimes nonexistent, words in his sleep, of which Jughead has begun a brief list. Others he tosses violently, restlessly and constantly in motion as if he is running from something, even in his sleep.

It's on those nights that Jughead gets restless. 

It's likely around midnight that Archie has squirmed his way into Jughead's personal space, and it is not the first time.

Archie had had these borderline night terrors when they were younger, so this was nothing new to him. He was always a source of comfort towards him. And now that we're dating, as of not too long ago.   
   
People had begun to notice the way they held hands in public. The way they looked at each other, almost as if they were the only two in the room. People had begun to ask questions.  

The four of them had squeezed into a booth at Pop's, Veronica and Betty on one side and Jughead and Arch on the other. Archie had grabbed Jug's hand under the table, intertwining their fingers and rubbing smooth patterns into his skin with his thumb. The small smile tugging at the corner of Jughead's lips seemed to give it up.  

" _So, are you two...?" Veronica posed, using one of her fries to point each of them as she spoke._

_Jughead had tried to speak but Archie, grinning like a kid in a candy store, answered before him. "Yeah, we are."  
Up to this point it hadn't been discussed. It was left up in the air and casually ignored between chaste kisses and time well spent between them. _

_The girls were happy for them, as happy as they had been when they found out Veronica and Betty were dating too._  
   
So this was certainly listened in his job description as boyfriend. 

Jughead had moved in about a month prior to this particular incident, and during that time period Archie had had two previous incidents and now this one. They had stopped until the Ms. Grundy incident as far as he knew, of which Jughead really didn't want to think about. This time the waking blow had been a sharp kick to the shin, and waking Jughead up almost instantly. He had been angry upon waking but once he realized, his hard expression had softened quite a bit. 

He sat up, gently pulled Archie's head into his lap so he could see his face. He slowly reached out to card his hand through soft auburn hair, moving his body closer to the other's. "Arch?" He spoke softly, voice just above a gentle whisper.

No response, but the failing had died down a significant amount. It was more shifty, soft murmurs, pained expressions that pulled at Jug's heart strings.

He wonder what he was dreaming about. Running from. Was it Ms. Grundy? Did something happen over the summer that he wasn't aware of? Maybe it was guilt. He didn't know what exactly it was, just that his boyfriend was obviously terrified of something.

It was dark that night, the new moon high and invisible in the sky, making it hard for Jughead to make out every expression, and maybe he was thankful for that.

Archie began to mutter soft apologies while Jughead's mind had drifted away, the shifting beginning again.

Jughead had always dealt with the one of two ways. One: he would sit with Archie and play with his hair, muttering soft reassurances that he may or may not hear. Or two: once it got to be too much for either of them, he would wake him up.

Archie's upset had become widely evident and he didn't really want to want it go on for much longer. He gently grabbed Archie's shoulders and shook him gently, which caused his eyes to shoot open and for him to sit up almost immediately. And in doing so, he managed to bash his head in Jughead's nose, causing him to recoil quickly and cover his nose. "Jesus Christ." He whisper shouted, not wanting to wake Fred Andrews, who slept down the hall from the boys.

Archie looked at Jug with wide apologetic eyes. "Are you okay?" He moved towards him, gently grabbing his wrists and moving his hands from his face. He looked his nose over carefully before kissing it lightly. Archie looked like he might cry. In addition to his nightmare, he'd just managed to hit his boyfriend in the face (by accident, of course).

Jughead shook his head, "its fine. Not broken, not bleeding." He smiled ever so slightly to reassure him. "Are you okay?"   
Archie hesitated before nodding slowly, "Yeah.." he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I was just. I was scared.. that I had lost you."

He looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "why would you lose me?"

"I did lose you, Jug.." he looked at him with eyes that plead for him to never leave again.

Jughead nodded slowly and grabbed one of Archie's hands, looking it over before squeezing it gently. "Won't happen again." He looked at him.

Archie nodded slowly and looked at him, smiling wide. "Can I hold you?"

He nodded and laid beside him, smiling when Archie laid down and wrapped himself around him. It took only moments for the both of them to fall asleep.

The both of them slept soundly that night, breathing in sync and balanced. Wrapped around each other and lost in the warmth shared between them.


	3. Hours Well Spent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of our two favorite boys... Or should I say, a night in the life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story seemed to be doing really well! Thank you guys for reading! Keep an eye out for new chapters!

_After months of living together, they had developed a nightly routine, never exactly strictly followed but at least thought of and acknowledged as a regular part of their life together._

 

**7:30 p.m.**

Sometimes Jughead would swear up and down their life was like a cheesy low budget sitcom or a rom-com movie.

The radio was on and Archie was serenading Jughead like he did on most nights. And by now, Jughead certainly didn't blush as much as he had before. He only shook his head and laughed as he handed Archie another clean dish to dry.

This was their routine. Every night Jughead would wash the dishes, and Archie would dry them before putting them away, dancing around with a towel in one hand and a glass in the other as he sang. Jughead really loved to hear him sing, especially when it was directed at him like this.

He couldn't help but laugh when Archie almost fell, tightly clasping the mug he'd just dried.

"Back to work, Andrews. This isn't American idol." He laughed as Archie grinned. "Sorry, boss."

Archie happily went back to work drying dishes and putting them away, humming softly to himself as he occasionally glanced at Jughead who was smiling, even if he was trying to hide it. 

 

**8:23 p.m.**

Archie and Jughead headed upstairs to their room having finished up their chores, each calling down respectively "Thank you, Mr. Andrews," and "Thanks, dad."

To which Fred Andrews, who was finishing cleaning up the kitchen replied, "You're welcome, boys. Goodnight."

And the latter was echoed back as they entered the room before promptly shutting the door behind them. They had their own respective corners of the room, even though they shared it, Jughead often migrated towards the chain in the corner in which he kept his laptop due to access to an outlet for charging purposes, and Archie liked to sit on the bed they shared as he worked on new songs, strumming and occasionally jotting down notes and lyrics. 

every now and then they would run things by one another, Jughead testing out the attention grabbing opening line of a new chapter or Archie singing a soft and sweet ballad to Jughead. Jughead would hide his face behind his laptop as he told Archie how good it was, not wanting the redhead to notice his blush. Archie was equally as supportive when Jughead would share parts of his novel, smiling wide as he listened to the eloquent sentence structure and clever devices Jughead used to shape his story. This was a nightly occurrence that they found relaxing, being able to be separate, but still together.  

 

**9:00 p.m.**

Jughead had just now finally shut down his laptop, closing it gently as he looked to Archie, who was absently strumming his guitar. Archie looked up at him and grinned, "All done?"

Jughead nodded, "If I keep working, I'll be up forever." He laughed.

Archie shook his head with a soft chuckle, "We have school tomorrow."

"I'm ahead." Jughead shrugged, "be back. Need to shower." He stood, stretching, a few of his joints popping as he did so.

"Don't leave you hat in the splash zone again." Archie teased as Jughead flipped him off and left for the bathroom, a ball of clean clothing in hand.

Jughead returned after twenty minutes, clean as a whistle and ready for bed, which he happily crawled into as he looked at Archie, "Your turn."

"Who said i had to shower? Come on, I don't smell." He looked at him, "That bad at least." He was only teasing, having been quite hygienic and making a point to shower at least once, if not twice a day (after football). Jughead pushed at him with his feet, causing Archie to hold his hands up in surrender, "Okay, okay. I'm goin', I'm goin'." He stood up and went to leave but not without stealing a quick kiss and grabbing fresh clothes. 

By the time Archie had returned, Jughead was asleep, snoring softly into his pillow as he slept, and even though Archie was disappointed, he couldn't help but smile at the sight. Jug was so peaceful when he slept, certainly not as mouthy even though occasionally he would mutter something odd and a little off hand. But it certainly wasn't something he minded, as he himself was also known to say some pretty odd things in his sleep and occasionally even mutter song lyrics. He laid down beside Jughead and gently wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him close as he buried his face in his hair. "Night, Juggie." He muttered softly, thinking maybe Jughead would hear him in his sleep, and not wanting to go to bed without saying it. He drifted off to sleep soon after, smiling even in his sleep as he dreamed of days spent with his love. 

 

**12:02 a.m.**

Jughead's eyes shot open as he looked to Archie who was facing him, sound asleep. Archie had just swiftly managed to kick him directly in the shin as he slept, innocently trying to snuggle closer but finding Jug's body to be a road block. He would regret this later, but right now he was pretty upset, and one glance tot he illuminated red numbers on the alarm clock only furthered his acute anger. 

"Archibald Andrew, wake up." He whisper shouted, with no avail and response from the sleeping Archie. Drastic times called for desperate measures. Jughead flicked Archie sharply in the nose, causing him to practically shoot out of bed, scared awake, "Huh?" He narrowed his eyes slightly before rubbing at them. He groaned, "What, Juggie." 

"Ya kicked me." Jughead stared at him in the dark, even though they were practically nose to nose, they could hardly see each other. 

"I did? Jeez... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Archie frowned and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. 

"I don't think I could ever forgive you for such an atrocity." Archie pecked his cheek, and then his nose, and then finally his lips, "Better?" 

Jughead pursed his lips in thought, "Perhaps you are forgiven. This time. I was was getting nervous that you would snuggle m right off the bed." 

Archie chuckled, "I'll try not to snuggle you to roughly this time. Promise." Jughead smiled slightly and nodded, "Better not." 

Jughead yawned as Archie got resettled, not too close, but not too far, "Go back to sleep." And with that, both of them did. 

 

**1:00 a.m.**

But rest was short lived as Archie began to shiver, Jughead having stolen the blanket for the fifth time that week. Archie knew they'd need to invest in a comforter soon because he would surely freeze to death if Jug continued to steal their shared one. Archie opened his eyes and looked beside him, his boyfriend had rolled himself in the blanket like a burrito and at any other time Archie may have just thought it adorable (not that he was angry about it now). He grabbed the corner of the blanket and gently tugged at it, but the Jughead shaped blanket burrito filling held on tightly, shifting and taking his blanket tortilla with him. This time Archie pulled harder, eliciting a whine from Jughead who attempted to curl up, bunching the blanket up around himself to maximize the amount of which his body held down. 

Archie devised a plan. He would lay in wait and when the sleeping Jughead was least expecting it, he would yank his portion of the blanket back. So he waited, watching as Jughead Shifted and finally stretched out, leaving a corner of his precious blanket vulnerable. Archie quickly seized it and yanked hard enough to gain his section of blanket back without waking up Jughead. He wasn't about to wake up the beast a second time. He squeezed himself under the small portion he'd managed to rescue from Juggie, snuggling close to him to gain a little more warmth for what the blanket didn't fully cover. It was hard for him to fall back asleep after that. 

 

**4:45 a.m.**

And both of them managed to sleep soundly and without interruption. For a little while at least.

This time it was Jughead again, who had woken up at some ungodly hour, but thankfully not because he had been struck again. But now he faced an even trickier dilemma. How did one sneak away to use the bathroom when they were stuck in a tangle of limbs? Archie had managed to wrap himself around Jughead, making leaving the bed nearly impossible. He shifted carefully, freezing when Archie moved closer. Damn it, he needed to get up. 

Ever so slowly Jughead laced his fingers with Archie's and moved them from around his waist, inching up towards the head board in an attempt to move away. But Archie only seemed to follow, prompting Jug to sit up and slowly pull his legs towards his body, having moved out of Archie's arms. The hard part being taken care of he was now tasked with getting out of bed and leaving the room. 

He ever so slowly and quickly moved his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, walking over to the door, but not before stumbling over a book left in the middle of the floor. He froze completely and looked back at Archie, who hadn't moved, and sighed with relief. He was home free. He walked over tot he door and opened it, stepping only a single foot over the threshold before the sound of moving covers and the redhead's voice filled the quiet night air, "Jug..?" 

Shit. 

 

**6:15 a.m.**

The incessant beep of the alarm was enough to drive someone mad this early in the morning. Archie rolled onto his back, finally releasing Jughead after wrapping himself around him in his sleep. "Up and at em', tiger." Archie teased as he covered Jughead's face in small kisses. He knew he was fake sleeping at this point, having been woken by the alarm.

"Five more minutes, mom." Jughead whined, rolling onto his stomach.

"Come on, Juggie. School. Gotta get up."

"But."

"No buts." He sat up and moved to the of the bed, stretching as he sat.

But Jughead had other plans. He'd spent weeks perfecting his technique. They still had time to kill before school. Just enough for a short nap. He moved to the edge of the bed as well and wrapped his arms around Archie's midsection. "Please?" He looked at him.

Archie sighed and smiled gently as he ran a hand through Jughead's hair, enjoying rarity of seeing it uncovered. "Okay. Just for a few minutes though. We gotta go soon." He kissed his forehead.

Jughead nodded and laid down, smiling as Archie laid beside him. It was nice to be able to just lay there together. To know that someone would be there for him when he woke up. Jughead Closed his eyes and fell back asleep soundly only en minutes later as Archie carded his fingers through his boyfriend's soft hair. Archie fought to keep his eyes open, knowing that they only had twenty or so minutes to spare before they needed to get up and get ready to make sure they were on time. Sleep became heavy in his eyes as he laid there, gently pulling Jughead closer to him. It didn't take long at all for him to also succumb to the sweet beckon of sleep. 

 

**8:30 a.m.**

Archie sat straight up, waking up with a start as he glanced around, looking to Jughead and then the clock before sighing. Damn it.. They were late. Jughead opened an eye and looked at him almost disinterestedly, "What time is it?

"It's 8:30.." Archie rubbed his face, "we definitely slept in." Maybe it had been because they were up so late last night, or maybe it was just because they were lazy, but whatever the reason, warm boyfriend or no warm boyfriend, Archie was too tired to put the forth the effort to go in now. 

Jughead nodded and looked at him, "Missing a day never killed anyone, you know." 

"I wasn't really planning on going in now." Archie laughed, "We may as well stay home and rest." 

"Sounds like a plan to me." Jughead grinned, earning a peck on the nose from Archie who laughed.

 

_Maybe this wasn't their every day routine, but either way, neither of them would've changed a thing._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm considering using my tumblr to release the chapters and make them a little easier to find and more easily accessible to those who wish to follow this story as well as my other Jarchie fic Insomnia. What do you guys think? Would that be helpful? 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Some will be short and sweet like this one and others may be longer.  
> New chapters coming soon!


End file.
